$80 Million Recycling Facility To Open In New York City

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The City of New York has recently broken ground for a new recycling facility that will help reduce the distance traveled by recycling trucks by about 260,000 miles per year. The material recovery facility (MRF) will process all of NYC’s glass, metal and plastic recyclable materials.

The $80 million project is a partnership between Sims Metal Management and the City government. According to the city’s long-term sustainability plan, facilities like these are meant to reduce carbon footprint and improve air quality in the city. Occupying 100,000 square feet of 30th St. Pier in Sunset Park, the facility will minimize the distance between pick-up and drop-off sites, thereby reducing the amount of trucking needed. The MRF will also take materials from barges coming from the Bronx and Queens.

The new facility will also create 100 new jobs in the city when it opens in December of 2011. The Sims MRF is part of the Sunset Park Waterfront Vision Plan, which involves about $165 million of the city government’s money invested in the development of 3.5 million square feet of industrial space. In terms of eco-friendliness, the facility aims to reduce truck traffic by about 70,000 trips per year, thereby reducing fossil fuel use. The Sims MRF also plans to open a visitor education center, which will help highlight the importance of recycling in helping the environment.